Maungdaw, Arakan State: Seven Arakanese Rohingya villagers were sentenced to five years in jail each on February 1 by the Maungdaw court. The conviction was to do with the murder of two Natala villagers’ by unknown miscreants on September 24, 2009, said a close relative of one of the victims in Maungdaw.

They were arrested by police and Nasaka on January 23. The victims were identified as Azizullah (70), son of Nurul Haque, his younger brother Tanda Meah (42) and his son Maulvi Khorim Ullah (20), Omar Hakim (70), son of Haji Khasim and his son Rashidullah(18), Ziaul Haque (20), son of Abul Fayaz and Abu Sidique (35) son of Abdul Latif, a Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) member.  They all belong to west Kilaidaung (Ducheeyartan) village of Maungdaw Township.

Abu Sidique was arrested by Burma’s border security force - Nasaka of Padinn (Fatanzar) camp and the rest were arrested by Maungdaw police. Among them, Ziaul Haque (20) was released after paying Kyat 3.5 million and the rest were sent to Buthidaung jail. 

Two Natala villagers were hacked to death and one was seriously injured in Maungdaw Township when six unidentified miscreants wearing masks attacked them in a video parlour after a video show, on September 24, at about 12:30 am.

On September 24, morning, the Tactical Operation Command Commander (TOC) of Buthidaung town, Maungdaw Township PDC Chairman, the Maungdaw District PDC Chairman and  Lt. Col Aung Gyi Director of Nasaka went to the spot and asked the local authorities to find the perpetrators, said a village elder on condition of anonymity. 

The authorities found “Chinkali (in Burmese) or hooks”, which were widely used by students in the 1988 democracy uprising, in the room where the two Natala villagers were killed.  It proved that the killers were Natala villagers because such hooks belong only to Natala villagers. The authorities did not find any clue that Arakanese Rohingya people were involved in the murder, and authorities confirmed that no Arakanese Rohingya were involved in the incident. 

However, earlier, seven villagers including Haji Shamshu and Haji Ismail were arrested by Nasaka on suspicion of the killings. Later, they were released because no evidence was found. 

The incident was said to have occurred among Natala villagers on account of enmity but some officials wanted to blame it on the Arakanese Rohingya villagers to extort money and to harass them, said a trader. 

After the murders, every night Nasaka personnel went to the villages and checked the family lists and extorted money from the villagers when they found one of the family members absent from home because he was sleeping in the shrimp project. They extorted Kyat 200,000 to 300,000 from the head of the family. After which there was no development.

But, after some time, the police and Nasaka suddenly went to the Kilaidaung (Ducheeyartan) village again on January 23, and arrested another seven villagers on the allegation that they were involved in the killings. There was no proper inquiry and they were sent to jail on February 1. 

“We are surprised, why the authorities arrested some innocent villagers and sent them to jail,” a local businessman said.